We've All Got Problems
by gracelewisfangirl
Summary: St. Mundie's Institue. A hospital for the "crazy kids." Like Percy, who's delusional. And Annabeth, who's suicidal. Nico's depressed. Rachel's schizo. Luke's a druggie. Thalia's a delinquent. From enemies to friends to lovers, this Percy Jackson AU is seriously un-demigod-like. T for cussing. Based off of Cassie's Neighbor's Of Cuts and Pills, which btw is SUCH a good fanfic!
1. Teenagers

**Disclaimer: I AM NOT RSQUARED! I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON OR ANY OF THESE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS. This story is inspired by Cassie's Neighbors _Of Cuts and_****_ Pills._**

**Okay, you can read now. :)**

Chapter One: Teenagers

**Percy**

_They say that teenagers scare_

_ the living shit out of me_

_ They could care less, _

_ as long as someone will bleed_

_ So darken your clothes_

_ or strike a violent pose_

_ Maybe they'll leave you alone_

_ But not me_

I hate being mental. I mean, I guess it'd be okay to be a bit out of whack, but how come the only thing that sets my mind into overdrive is the mention of my long-lost dad and twin brother, Tyson?

It's been years. It's been seven years since I've heard of them last. My mom - convinced they're dead - remarried. My step-dad isn't bad, actually, but sometimes I resent my mom, for giving up on them.

What happened? It's a question I ask myself every day. They went to the beach. Every year, we have this thing, where mom or dad gets to stay with me for a week, and the other one takes Tyson off to Montauk, our favorite beach home. Then the next year, _I_ get to go to Montauk, and my brother gets to stay home with the other parent.

They always did this 'cause Tyson and I are both ADHD. We can barely focus in school. It's a struggle for us to pass classes. It's sort of a reward, as well as a way for them to see if Tyson and I can live one day without constantly picking fights with the teachers or pockets of our major idiot bullies.

We were a happy family. I loved having Tyson around. But then dad and Tyson disappeared. And mom remarried. And I became ansty, disappointed, and yeah, a little pissed, that my mother could just go off and marry so quickly. My already teetering grades plummeted. Our four-fisted fights became bloodier, crueler two-fisted battles. I became angry at everyone: my mom, my dad, my teachers, my therapist, my bullies, Paul, and even Tyson.

But as much as I hated my twin brother for leaving me, I became scared of forgetting him more. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't feel anything to him anymore. No connection.

It's like I never had a twin to begin with.

And that scares the shit out of me.

But I guess life could be worse. I have four friends here at Mundie's. There's Luke, who's 19 and a major druggie; Rachel's my age and she's even more out of whack than I am (she's schizo); Thalia has a big mouth and has an even bigger ego for a girl of 17; and Jason's a year younger than me (which is 15,) and he's a complete amnesiac, 'cause he can't remember _squat. _

Life ain't that bad, 'cause we're all crazy here at Mundie's. In some way or another, some ways worse than others, (like Rachel,) we've all lost touch with the complete reality.

So it was sort of different with the new girl.

_Annabeth Chase_, they said. _Oh, you'll love her!_ They said.

Yeah. Right.

I'll admit that Annabeth did have this sort of aura around her. It was a cloud of authority; basically, you _had_ to pay attention to her. Especially when she spoke. She was like a natural leader.

But she scared the shit out of me. I think she scared the shit out of everyone, but all of us were just too cowardly to admit it.

I remember her first day: let me just say, she was _pretty. _

Annabeth had long, curly blonde hair, which I'll reluctantly admit I'm a sucker for. She wasn't tall, but she wasn't like a little puny shortstop either. She was about a head shorter than I was, which is pretty tall. She was slim, and had a nice tan, but for some reason, she had unnaturally blue eyes. I could tell they were fake, but I had no idea why she wanted to denounce her natural eye color, because judging by the rest of her clothes, she was _no _fashionista.

She was wearing a faded _Paramore_ T-shirt and torn jeans with small holes in the knees. Her shoes were obviously old, judging by the duct tape and the frayed shoelaces, and her bag was as grungy and ancient as the rest of her clothing.

She was pretty, but she was, well, _plain. _The only piece of jewelry I spotted on her was a small coin on a chain and an owl bracelet, and the only makeup visible to the naked eyes was a thin line of eyeliner.

But the thing that made her stand out was her confidence. She was calm and collected, unlike the other chicks I've seen step into Mundie's on the first day. She had that mysterious glow around her, and she wasn't smiling.

It was like she not only knew that she was in Mundie's, but she also knew _why. _

That thought was slightly terrifying. Because she's sane, but not sane enough to escape Mundie's.

Once Thalia saw her, the rant began. "Sheesh, will you look at the state of her clothes?"

It was morning breakfast, so I guess you could give Thalia some slack. She's usually an insufferable little bitch in the morning, and no one but Luke can really bring her down a notch. And Luke was in one of his "sessions" that morning, so he wasn't there anyway. Neither was Rachel, because she had a "fit" the night beforehand.

Anyway, Annabeth walks in, and Thalia starts complaining. Jason was looking into his cereal like he's trying not to laugh. And me? I was just watching this new girl, wondering what she could have _possibly _been admitted here for. I mean, she looked intelligent. And like I said before, she seemed pretty grounded.

I started listing the ways: mouthing off to a fat-faced teacher. _Multiple times. _Running away. Cutting. Generally suicidal. Shoplifting. Aiding and abetting a crazy bitch or bastard who committed _murder..._

I nearly convinced myself of the last one when Dr. Athens approached our table. Thalia immediately ended her rant - and brought down her language. Jason looked up. I turned my attention to her, for once.

"Good morning!" Dr. Athens said cheerfully, noting that I barely touched my food and Thalia had made a makeshift ice rink with hers. She raised an eyebrow, and Thalia scowled.

Like I said, she doesn't do mornings.

"I've come by to check up on you," Dr. Athens told us, and this time, Thalia wasn't the only one who groaned.

Every once in a while, one of the therapists at Mundie's would come over to "check on us" and make sure we were, you know, eating, drinking and socializing during breakfast. But with all the commotion with the new girl, I was really in no mood. Thankfully, the others felt the same.

"We're fine, thanks." Jason replied quickly, and I nodded vigorously. "Who's the new girl?" Thalia snapped, and we all looked at Dr. Athens, hoping she'd get the picture.

She did.

She smiled and pulled out a file folder from behind that coat of hers. "Annabeth Chase," she announced proudly, "Oh, you'll love her."

See?

"Age fifteen, got caught in the middle of a crime scene about a year ago... she's been deemed suicidal and her step-mother thought that treatment would help." Dr. Athens closed the file and stuck it back in her bag.

Part of me was amazed that I had gotten one of my guesses right. The other part was as curious as ever.

"What crime scene?" Jason, Thalia and I said at the exact same time. Dr. Athens pursed her lips as she stood up. "Well, I'm afraid that that information is classified. It doesn't really say here." She gestured to her bag.

There were a few more exchanges - I wasn't paying attention to any of them - and then Dr. Athens left. Luke came into the room, looking bleary-eyed and hungry.

He slid into the seat next to Thalia and said, "Hey guys, what's up?"

Thalia shoved him a tray filled with fruit cups and soggy toast. "Well," she began, "there's this new girl..."


	2. Room 095

Chapter Two: Room 095

**Annabeth**

Life sucks, okay? I didn't need freaking Mundie's to tell me that. And my step-mother said, "Well, Annabeth, maybe it will help!"

Ha!

Okay, Mundie's did not help. Like, AT ALL.

If anything, it made me worse. Like I was told that I was on the brink of insanity. Maybe I was. Who really knows.

As I was walking through on my first day, everyone was snickering or not really paying attention to my entrance; I had decided to wear a little bit of eyeliner. Somehow, it helped me think.

I remember this one table of three kids; two guys and one girl, although you honestly really couldn't tell she was a girl at first. The girl had short black hair and lightning-blue eyes. I mean, even bluer than my colored contacts, which are pretty damn blue. She was wearing a black T-shirt, and she had arranged her food into what looked like a mini hockey-rink, with an audience and everything.

One of the guys looked younger than I was. His hair was blonde and it flopped over his eyes like he didn't want to attract attention. He had a deep scar over his upper lip, and he was idly spinning his cereal. And for some reason, he was still in his pajamas; blue and green with little T-Rexes. I would've laughed if I had been so pissed - or nervous. I couldn't really tell at that point.

But the third guy really caught my attention. He had black hair that looked like he had poked his finger in an electrical socket, which is to say, sticking up all over his head. And he had the most _gorgeous_ green eyes I had ever seen in my life. He was wearing an orange T-shirt and jeans, and he was watching _me. _

I didn't know who he was, but he was _cute. _

But before I could dwell on it too much, Dr. Venus, or whatever the hell her name was, escorted me out of the cafeteria and into the dormitory hall. We passed by one room where I heard awful screaming coming from inside. It was a girl, and she was wailing, "Make it stop! Please! MAKE IT STOP!" I saw a glimpse through the little window and saw a red-haired girl about my age, her hands clasped over her ears, rocking back and forth, a puddle of tears on the floor. The doctor inside was trying to get her to drink something, but the nurses seemed like they had no idea what to do.

I wanted to get a closer look, but Venus shied me away from the window before I could.

"Now, Annabeth," she said, leading me to a worn-down door with the number 095. "This is your dorm room."

I stepped inside. It was cozy, I guess. Two bunks off to one side, a desk, a mushroom chair. Even a small bookshelf. A closet. A window. I noticed that the room seemed unoccupied.

I turned to Dr. Venus and asked her, "Am I the only occupant?" She nodded, her blond hair bouncing. "For now, anyway. Is that alright with you?" I remember shrugging, as if I didn't care. I don't think I really did.

I remember Venus telling me that I was due in a conference room in like thirty minutes or whatever. I remember agreeing and telling her I won't kill anyone on my way over. Which, now that I think about it, was a pretty sick joke.

I was left alone in the room. And for future reference, me alone in a room is NOT a good thing. I reckon that anyone of us at Mundie's alone in a room is not a good thing.

Thankfully, my stupid conscience wasn't there to bug me. I got some time to think in the room that was going to be my home for the next year. I sat down on the lower bunk and ran my hands across the pillow. Soft. Sighing, I stretched out on the bunk as I recalled the conversation my step-mother and I had before she shipped me here.

_"Annabeth, what are we supposed to do? You don't eat, you don't interact... you are practically dead to the world!" _

_ "Am I really? Then why are you talking to me?" _

_ "Now is NOT the time for sarcasm, Annabeth! Your father doesn't know what's going on with you! He's in pain watching you go about your days!" _

_ "Oh, really? Then why doesn't he tell me this crap himself?" _

_ Silence. _

_ "Look Steph, I know that you're trying your best being my mother and everything, but frankly, I'm fine being the freaking underling." _

_ More silence. _

_ "Whatever. See ya 'round, _mom."

_ I put my hand on the door, ready to bolt. It was at this moment that Stephanie chose to speak up. _

_ "Malcolm's death was NOT your fault, Annabeth. I don't know if this is connected to that, but you did not cause your brother's death." _

_ Not knowing what to say, I didn't say anything. Instead I angrily stepped outside and slammed the door shut. _

I blinked, a familiar feeling of panic rising up in me. _Stop, _I told myself, _now is NOT the time. You have to maintain control. _

Shaking my head, I tossed the pillow I had been choking back onto the bed and decided that a small wandering outside would do me good.

So I did just that.


	3. (Author's Note)

**Author's Note**

**Okay, I hate ANs so I'll try to make this brief.**

**First of all: thank you so much too all of you who've favorite-ed and followed this story so far. I have high hopes for it!**

**Second: just a quick heads up. To those of you who've read this far will notice that my story is in past-tense. I'm planning on changing that. I hate writing in past-tense. So the next chapter will be in present-tense, and if I doesn't seem to work with the story - or vise versa - please let me know in the reviews.**

**Thanks again!**

**Grace**


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